Hashim Amla slams 159 against Ireland to break another Virat Kohli's record

New Delhi: South African top-order batsman Hashim Amla smashed another Virat Kohli record on Tuesday by scoring his 20th ODI hundred in 108th inning. Indian batting sensation Virat Kohli scored the same number of centuries in 133 innings.

Amla smashed 159 runs off 128 balls with the help of 20 boundaries including four six before being caught off the bowling off Andrew McBrine of Ireland during their World Cup clash at Canberra’s Manuka Oval.

Few facts about Hashim Amla..

Amla’s ton against Ireland was his 20th in ODI cricket, and he got there in 108 innings.

Fellow South African batsman AB de Villiers took 175 innings to hit his 20th ODI hundred.

Kohli and Windies legend Viv Richards previously held the record. Both took 114 innings to reach the 5000-run mark.

He is also the fastest to reach 2000, 3000 and 4000 runs in ODIs.

Today's 159 runs knock was his second 150+ score in 2015. His first was against West Indies on January 18 when he smashed 153 off 142 balls.

Amla enjoys second best ODI batsman average of all time. He averages is 57.25 from 109 innings. Of all the batsmen to have played at least 20 one-day international innings, only Netherlands short-form specialist Ryan ten Doeschate has a better batting average than Amla.

Here are few stats of Amla and Kohli which shows their class as ODI batsman.

* South Africa have won 17 of the 19 games where Amla has scored 100s. India have won 20 of 22 games where Kohli scored tons.

* Amla became the fastest player to reach 20 ODI tons surpassing Kohli by achieving the feat in 108 innings, compared to Kohli’s 133.

* With 28 fifties and 20 hundreds in 108 innings Amla has converted a staggering 44 pc of his innings into milestones. With 33 fifties and 20 centuries in 145 innings Kohli has a conversion rate of about 37 pc.

* Amla has only succumbed to the nervous nineties on four occasions. While Kohli have only been out in the 90s on two occasions.

* Amla has the highest ODI average in the world from the Test playing nations, with an astounding number of 57.25. Kohli isn’t far behind though with an average of 52.